Weather Wizards

Cubs, Sox, Ravinia, Northwestern University all rely on private forecast firms to help them dodge nasty bouts of weather

July 03, 2009|By Megan Twohey, Tribune reporter

They were the reason fans were told to take cover during a game at Wrigley Field this spring, a Chicago bike rally was cut short last month and guests at Northwestern University's commencement heard only the first and last pages of Wynton Marsalis' prepared remarks.

Private meteorologists -- with their location-specific, minute-by-minute forecasts -- have come to play a crucial, behind-the-scenes role in the staging of many of the region's outdoor events.

Planning to attend a concert at Ravinia, the Sox game at U.S. Cellular Field or the fireworks show downtown? If storms are in the forecast, expect private meteorologists to quietly shape the activities like puppeteers pulling strings above a stage.

"We're stepping in at critical moments," Joel Bonnan, a meteorologist with Palatine-based Murray and Trettel, said as he worked the phones on a recent afternoon, briefing the commercial weather company's clients on storms gathering northwest of Chicago. "It's all about, how do you dodge the bullet?"

With the safety of thousands of people in their hands, many event planners don't want to rely solely on the geographically broad warnings issued by the National Weather Service or the general predictions (think 40 percent chance of storms) broadcast by TV or radio meteorologists.

By hiring a private weather-tracking company, whose fees range from hundreds to thousands of dollars depending on the client, event planners secure real-time forecasts for their location.

They also gain access to trained professionals who can coach them through what it all means. Equipped with radar, weather maps and historical data, the private meteorologists assess when a storm will crash down on a specific site, for how long and the dangers it poses.

The White Sox and Six Flags Great America use DTN/Meteorlogix, an agency based in Burnsville, Minn. Locally, Murray and Trettel counts the city of Chicago, Ravinia, the Cubs and operators of Soldier Field among its clients.

"I talk to them more than anyone else during the course of a game -- sometimes 10 times a day," said Roger Baird, groundskeeper for the Cubs, who will dash onto the field between innings to deliver a forecast to an umpire, signal for the tarp to be unrolled or even empty the stands after consultation with a Murray and Trettel meteorologist.

Pat Sanders, general manager at Ravinia, uses a steady stream of forecasts from the company to decide how and when to protect performers and guests.

"In some cases, it has actually prompted us to restructure the program," Sanders said.

The consulting can make for nail-biting moments.

Consider Northwestern University's recent graduation ceremony, which took place in the school's football stadium in Evanston.

The day saw violent thunderstorms, with high winds and hail, pummel the area, taking down trees, knocking out power lines and prompting area residents to twitter that Armageddon was upon us.

All week, university officials had been receiving periodic assessments of the storm from a Murray and Trettel meteorologist, who assured them that a period of dry and calm weather early in the evening would provide just enough time for the event to be staged outside.

But as the 15,000 administrators, faculty, graduates and guests filed into the stadium that evening, the officials were nervous. It took 10 phone conversations with the meteorologist for university officials to collect the information they needed to guide the speakers through an hour and 45 minute window of safety as the storm crept closer and closer.

"When they said the front was 15 minutes out, we passed along the information to President [Henry] Bienen that we were in a tight time frame, and needed to go to the rain plan," said Garth Miller, the university's director of housing, food service and special events.

Speakers delivered abbreviated remarks. Graduates rose to receive their degrees in unison instead of by school. And the crowd filed out at 6:55 p.m., instead of the scheduled 7:05 p.m.

It was a close call, Miller said. About 7:15 p.m., the storm unleashed another wave of wind and rain.

Sanders said Murray and Trettel has helped her to navigate similarly intense weather situations at Ravinia, including one night when high winds blew an assistant on stage during a performance by the Joffrey ballet. The crowd was nervous, but after talking to a meteorologist, the park's management was able to assure patrons that the winds would die down after 15 minutes.

Another night, Ravinia moved up the firing of the cannons during the annual performance of the 1812 Overture and cut its intermission short after Murray and Trettel notified Sanders that an impending storm was an hour away from the festival park.

"We knew that the 1812 Overture was the event everyone came to see," Sanders said. "If it was truly a torrential downpour we wouldn't be able to shoot the cannons."

The Chicago Mayor's Office of Special Events shortened a large rally designed to be part of bike-to-work week in June after consulting with the Department of Streets and Sanitation's weather command, which was assisted by Murray and Trettel meteorologists.

The company also played a key role in the decision at Wrigley Field earlier this season to move fans inside when it started to rain. The private meteorologists had informed the park's management that hard rain would last for 45 minutes, Baird said.

They were right.

"Years ago, we'd make decisions the old fashioned way -- by standing outside and looking up at the sky," Baird said. "We've really come a long way."